Adjustable attachment for freight-car doors



v 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. H. DUZAN.

I ADJUSTABLB ATTAGHMBNT FOR FREIGHT CAR DOORS. No. 854,978.

(No Model.)

Patented'Deo. 28,'1886.

Illll I JYII. Il

III' 711 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I L I I 5Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented Dec. 28, 1886,

(No Model.)

` T. lH.v DUZAN. ADJUSTABLB ATTAGHMBNT POR FREIGH-T CAR DO0RS. No.354,973.

8511W, WWW

(No Model.) i v 5 Sheefis-'Shee't 4.

T. H. DZAN.

ADJUST'ABLE ATTAGHMBNT FOR FREIGHT CAR' DOORS MM,M4

Patn ted' Dec. 28 1886.

Cl. C. Ybwfimm,

5` Sheets-Sheet '5.

(No Model.)

T.H.-DUZAN.

.- w ADJUSTEBLE ATTAGHMENT FORFREIGHT CAR DOORS.

Paten'ed D60. 28, 1886.

Z f .ww7/ F C MLM' UNITED; STATES ATENT rriCEe THOMAS H. DUZAN, OFBALESTINE, TEXAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,973, dated December28,1886. Appliration filed August 3, 1886 Serial No. 209,899. (Nomodel.)

To all wwm it may concern:

Be itl known that I, THOMAS H. DUZAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Palestine, in the county of Anderson and State of Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AdjustableAttachments for Freight Car Doors; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exaet deto make and use the same.

'adapted to the movement of the door.

scription of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains The object of this improvement is anadjustable attachmeut for freight-car doors, for pre- Venting sparks andother objectionable matter from getting into the cars, and means forOperating` the attachment that is adapted for use in securing the'doorin different positious of adjustment, and for connection with the bodyof the car by means of aseal-support, in order that the fiXed adjustmentof the door cannot be changed without breaking-the seal. These resultsare attainable by the mechanism illustrated in the drawiugs, herewithfiled as part hereof, in which the same letters of reference denote thesame parts in the different Views.

Figure 1 represents a sectional side elevation of a freight-car and doorprovided with attachments embodying the features of my improvement. Fig.2 is a transverse Vertical section of the same, taken on the line x x ofFig. 1, and representing the parts adj usted for preventing sparks orother obj ectionable matter from getting into the cars. Fig'. 3 isatransverse Vertical sectioual representation of a freight-car, taken onthe same line as Fig. 2, and showing the parts in an adjusted position,Fig. 4 is a seotional side elevation of a freight-car provided with niyimprovement, and representingthe door adj usted to and secured in aposition for ventilat-ing the car and, contents' thereof. Fig. 5 is asectional side elevation of a freight-car provided with my improvedattachment in a modified form, adapted to the cars in present use. Figs.6 and 7 are sectional detail representations, more fully illustratiugthe construetion'and relation of some of the parts. Figs. 9, 10, 11, and12 are sectional detiil representations more fully illustrating therelation of the parts shown therein.

A is the body of the car..

B is the car door, suspended from the side of the car by means ofordinary hangers, B' B', and slide O.

O' C2 represent ordinary attachments to the lower part of the car-doorand body of the car adjacent thereto, for securing the position of thedoor, independently of my improved attachment.

D is a cleat movably seeured to the car-door, and connected with andadaptcd to be adj usted by an operating-handle, in a manner hereinafterfully explained.

D' D' represent bifurcated eye-plates, provided with conntersunkperforations, for the reception of corresponding bolts or rivets, (Z,

for connecting the plates to the cleat in a secure mauner by theapplication of nuts 01' washers, and suitabl y clinching the same at theinside of either the cleat or bolt, as' ;may be deemed advisable.

E E are studs secu red to the car-door B by bolts or rivets d,snbstantially in the ulanner above set forth, for the plates fixed tothe cleat D.

E' El are link-plates suitably connected to the eye-plates D' and studsE E, as shown at ff', for equalizing the motion of the cleat D. i

F is an eccentrically-formed casting fixed to the cleat D by bolts orrivets f2 in the same manner as the eye-plates D', aud provided with acorresponding slot. (Fully shown lat f in Fig'. 3.)

F' is a stud fiXed to the car-door B by bolts or rivels (Pin the samemanner as the studs E E.

G is a lever or-operating-handle pivoted to the stud F', as shown at g,adj acent to which it is provided with a rectangular extension (morefully shown in Fig. 10) for connecting the handle G with the eccentricframe F by means of a pin or wrist, G', set iu atransverse perforatiouof and suitably secured to the lever-extension through the slot in theframe F. The outer end of the lever G is provided with atransversely-slotted bifurcated inward eX- tension, (also fully shown iuFig. 10,) and adapted to fit over eyes or staples h h', suitably securedto the car-sill, and be connected thereto by a hook, H, inserted throughthe transverse slots in the lever-extension and through the staples oreyes h h'.

Fixed to the inside of the cleat D, as show-n IOO in Fig. 3, is a metalplate, D2, having an integral V-shaped or half-round projection, dt,which, when the cleat is adjusted, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, enterscorresponding grooves at a' a'2 in thecar-wall and prevents thelongitudinal movement of the door. The side of the cleat D next to thecar-wall is cut away at a slight inclination in a manner to cause thesame to lean toward and bear against the edge of the door when the cleatis `moved against .the car-wall by the operation of the lever G,

and a joint-ure is thus attained that Will effectually exclude theadmission of sparks or ot-her matter into the car.

My improv'ement may be adapted to the cars in present use by themodification shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7,in which the car-wall isprovidedwith half-round plates at K K', appropriately fixed thcreto, and thecleat D is provided with a groove, d, for receiving the same when theparts are adjusted, as shown in Figs. 2, 4, 5. The car-wall should alsobe provided with a series of half-inch washers, or a plate of the samethickness adjacent to the slide O, as shown at 03, and also a washer',e13, of similar thickness, adjacent to the end and lower edge of thedoor between the end of the latter and the plate K', in order to causethe door to clear the similar plate, K, when adjusted, as occasion mayrequire.

Bolted to the car-sill from theinside thereof and adjacent to the plateK' is an additional eye or staple, h', in position to be connected withthe Operating-handle G by the hook H, which is provided with slots ht,(fully shown in Fig.9,) for the insertion of Wire or tin strips for theapplication of a seal, H'.

To prevent loss the hook I-I should be connected by means of a chain(not shown) to the handle G, or to the car door or wall, in a positionadapted to its application, as shown, for

`connecting the handle G with either of the staples h h'.

The cleat D may be raised and lowered by the handle G and the car-dooradjnsted either way, and by reason of the stapleh' and groove a* theV-shaped projection of the cleat-plate inserted into the groove a, andthe car-door thus be conveniently secured ina partly-open position. Thisis often necessary to give ventilation to meat, vegetables, and othermatter frequently shipped in box-cars, and with cars having doors ofordinary construction the doors are seeured in partly-open positions bymeans of strips nailed to the car-wall behind the door, and pieces fromthe door to the casing, to prevent the door from changing its position.I w

All cars loaded with cotton, hay, or other combustible material reqnirethe car-walls to be provided with a cleat behind and immediatelyadjacent to the door, from the top to the bottom of the latter, toprevent the admission ofsparks and destruction of the contents of thecar that would otherwise belikely to accrue therefrom. When cars arethus cleated, the cleats must be nailed at the top, center, and bottom.This requires the per' son doing the cleating to have a ladder or get ontop of the car to nail the cleat at the top of the same, and often,owing to the surface of the ground where the cars are located, theeleats cannot be nailed at the center without using 'a ladder forreaching the part, unless `the car is adjacent to a platform. Bytheimprovement herewith illustrated these inconveniences anddifficulties are entirely ohviated, as all the desired results-arequickly attaiued by the proper adj ustment ot' the handle G, andsecuring the position of the same by the hook and seal, as shown, andthe seal, instead of being located atv or near 'the longitndinal centerof the car-door, as with the oldstyle hasps and fastenings now inusc,'is near the bottom 'of the car, where it is rcadily accessible toconduetors or others who are required to take record of the seals, whichby the old construction is often a matter of diificulty when the carsare on level ground, and cannot be r` achedat all without the use of aladder when the car is located on a fill, and sometimes when the fillsare high and steep there is no suitable support for a ladder, and theseals cannot be reached at all. By reason of the seal being located asshown it is easily accessible under all circumstances.

Having explained the features of my improvement, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi 1. In combination with thedoor and wall of a freightcar, the cleat adj ustably connected to thecar-door in the manner set forth and adapted to engage with thecar-wall, as shown and described, the Operating-handle pivotallyconnected to the car-door and arranged to op- IOO erate the cleat towardor away from the carwall, and provided with a recessed extension forreceiving a staple fixed to the car, and' slots for receiving a looking-hook, and the locking-hook provided with recesses for the reception ofmeans for snpporting a sea-l, substantially as specified, for thepurpose set forth. 2. The combination, with a car-door, of the slidingcleat thereon, and the lever for operating said cleat secured to thecar-door, the staples fixed to the car, the detachable hook, and meansfor supporting a seal on said hook, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI afiix my signature in presence 'f two witnesses.

` THOMAS I-I. DUZAN. Vi tn esses: E. H; NALL,

O. B. SAWYERs.

rio

IIS

